Shelby Lynne's musical exploration

Sunday

Jun 1, 2014 at 6:30 PM

One of the sweetest byproducts of the new paradigm in the music business, where artists can forge a successful career without benefit of a major record label, is that performers like Shelby Lynne can follow their muse wherever it may lead.

While Lynne, 45, first became known as a country music songwriter two decades ago, her inability to be confined to that genre has been liberating, as her music has explored soul, rock, blues and gospel, among other things. Saturday night's 80-minute show at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River was another eye-opening journey through all the musical flavors that make up the 2014 Lynne, delivered in a trio format that added even a sort of minimalist jazz tinge to the material.

The last time we heard Lynne, at this same venue in March 2012, she performed solo, in an intimate show that resembled a night in your living room. Saturday's show, with Ed Maxwell on acoustic bass and Ben Peeler on guitar and a lap-guitar that allowed him to play some marvelous slide guitar, presented Lynne in a more expansive way. Playing mostly rhythm on her guitar, Lynne was able to really stretch out to the real power in her voice, belting out the kind of soaring sustains and virtual roars, in a song like the cathartic "The Road I'm On," that can ignite a whole arena.

If the vibe was wholly different than the previous solo show, the slender 5'1 singer still had the near-sellout crowd of 260 fans enraptured from her first notes.

Lynne's most recent release was "Thanks," a five-song EP she put out last December. That disc has a couple of songs with strong gospel roots, and those songs were standouts last night, but not in the sense of being the traditional gospel you might expect. "(When You Gonna) Call Me Up?" for example, was a buoyant sprint, rollicking along joyfully as the chorus neatly rode the ambiguous meaning of whether it was a spiritual query, or a plea to a more secular being--either way, Lynne's passion and vitality made it indelible.

Later, Lynne's soulful take on "Walkin' (In the Steps of the Lord)" was delivered with spine-tingling vocal swoops, as Peeler's slide guitar lines crafted exquisite accents. Lynne noted she loved Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson, and needed to sing some gospel on her recent EP. "But it's nothing crazy, I'm still a bad girl," Lynne added with a devilish grin. "I just need some spiritual inoculation.."

Lynne squeezed in about 20 songs in her set, touching on a wide range of her career's best. The twangy ballad "Johnny Met June" is always a cool nod to Johnny Cash. "Your Lies" may have approached arena-rock power, but the down-home simplicity of "Where I'm From" was superbly drawn. The subtly rocking "Jesus on a Greyhound" was a masterpiece of vulnerability and hard-earned wisdom, while "Iced Tea" was quiet affirmation of what matters.

Two songs from her 2008 album of Dusty Springfield's music were transcendent; a stunning "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" with an a capella start, and a jazzy take on the 1963 Burt Bachrach-Hal David classic "Anyone Who had a Heart."

Shelby Lynne's heart is in her music, which makes her a can't-miss singer, whatever style she decides to explore.

One of the sweetest byproducts of the new paradigm in the music business, where artists can forge a successful career without benefit of a major record label, is that performers like Shelby Lynne can follow their muse wherever it may lead.
While Lynne, 45, first became known as a country music songwriter two decades ago, her inability to be confined to that genre has been liberating, as her music has explored soul, rock, blues and gospel, among other things. Saturday night's 80-minute show at the Narrows Center for the Arts in Fall River was another eye-opening journey through all the musical flavors that make up the 2014 Lynne, delivered in a trio format that added even a sort of minimalist jazz tinge to the material.
The last time we heard Lynne, at this same venue in March 2012, she performed solo, in an intimate show that resembled a night in your living room. Saturday's show, with Ed Maxwell on acoustic bass and Ben Peeler on guitar and a lap-guitar that allowed him to play some marvelous slide guitar, presented Lynne in a more expansive way. Playing mostly rhythm on her guitar, Lynne was able to really stretch out to the real power in her voice, belting out the kind of soaring sustains and virtual roars, in a song like the cathartic "The Road I'm On," that can ignite a whole arena.
If the vibe was wholly different than the previous solo show, the slender 5'1 singer still had the near-sellout crowd of 260 fans enraptured from her first notes.
Lynne's most recent release was "Thanks," a five-song EP she put out last December. That disc has a couple of songs with strong gospel roots, and those songs were standouts last night, but not in the sense of being the traditional gospel you might expect. "(When You Gonna) Call Me Up?" for example, was a buoyant sprint, rollicking along joyfully as the chorus neatly rode the ambiguous meaning of whether it was a spiritual query, or a plea to a more secular being--either way, Lynne's passion and vitality made it indelible.
Later, Lynne's soulful take on "Walkin' (In the Steps of the Lord)" was delivered with spine-tingling vocal swoops, as Peeler's slide guitar lines crafted exquisite accents. Lynne noted she loved Sister Rosetta Tharpe and Mahalia Jackson, and needed to sing some gospel on her recent EP. "But it's nothing crazy, I'm still a bad girl," Lynne added with a devilish grin. "I just need some spiritual inoculation.."
Lynne squeezed in about 20 songs in her set, touching on a wide range of her career's best. The twangy ballad "Johnny Met June" is always a cool nod to Johnny Cash. "Your Lies" may have approached arena-rock power, but the down-home simplicity of "Where I'm From" was superbly drawn. The subtly rocking "Jesus on a Greyhound" was a masterpiece of vulnerability and hard-earned wisdom, while "Iced Tea" was quiet affirmation of what matters.
Two songs from her 2008 album of Dusty Springfield's music were transcendent; a stunning "You Don't Have to Say You Love Me" with an a capella start, and a jazzy take on the 1963 Burt Bachrach-Hal David classic "Anyone Who had a Heart."
Shelby Lynne's heart is in her music, which makes her a can't-miss singer, whatever style she decides to explore.